Health groups criticize anti-smoking campaign

NANCY ZUCKERBRODASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

Published: Friday, March 17, 2006 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, March 17, 2006 at 12:00 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Miss America hopefuls and the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. have a special relationship, and anti-smoking groups want to break it up.
The second biggest U.S. cigarette maker has for the past few years been giving winners of Miss America state pageants $5,000 annually to promote the company's youth anti-smoking campaign, a program public health officials say is a sham.
Now a coalition of health groups is asking the association that runs the state pageants to quit working with R.J. Reynolds, which is part of Reynolds American Inc. based in Winston-Salem, N.C.
"R.J. Reynolds is trying to use partnerships with reputable organizations like the Miss America State Pageants to create the illusion that it has changed and is part of the solution to the tobacco problem," Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, wrote in a letter this month to the National Association of Miss America State Pageants.
R.J. Reynolds currently is teamed with 29 state pageant organizations, according to Carolyn Brinkley, senior manager of RJR's public policy programs.
Brinkley said the company offers the women, who compete in the Miss America pageant, anti-smoking materials to use in middle schools.
She added that educators surveyed by the company have been pleased with the program. "We're being villainized for doing something that's the right thing to do," Brinkley said.
The effort serves both the school children, who get the anti-smoking message, and pageant winners, who get the money, said Lamar Mullican, president of the board of the state pageant association.
"It's been a godsend program for the pageant program," Mullican said. "We've had absolutely no complaints on it whatsoever."
A coalition of public health groups issued a statement Wednesday expressing opposition to the relationship.
"None of the tobacco prevention programs designed by tobacco companies have been effective at preventing youth smoking," Cynthia Hallett, executive director of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, said in the statement.
R.J. Reynolds' youth anti-smoking program is called "Right Decisions, Right Now." Its materials include posters, such as one featuring cartoon images of kids breaking a cigarette into pieces. The caption reads, "Share a great idea with your friends."
Another brochure shows teenagers in an ice cream shop and is titled "Tobacco: Helping your child say no." It is meant for parents who want to address the issue.
Cheryl Healton, who heads the American Legacy Foundation, which runs its own youth anti-smoking ads, said teenagers considering smoking are not likely to be swayed by parents reading from a brochure or from a Miss America contestant who visits their classroom.
"They adopt and stick with the behavior as an act of rebellion," Healton said.
Youth anti-smoking campaigns that work urge teens to "rebel against an industry that wants them to do something that is bad to their health and frankly to that of others," Healton said.
Former Miss America Heather French Henry, of Kentucky, said in an interview Wednesday she disagreed with Healton's view regarding the ability of pageant winners to impact youth smoking decisions.
"When you take the crown even into a middle school or a high school, these kids shut up and listen," she said.
Henry delivered an anti-smoking message to Kentucky teens for the state government prior to becoming Miss America 2000. She said she had not seen R.J. Reynolds' materials but didn't have a problem with the pairing of the cigarette company and the women.
"If it doesn't have their name on it, and the girls aren't talking about R.J. Reynolds being the sponsor, then I would think it's making a positive impact on the students," she said.

WASHINGTON - Miss America hopefuls and the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. have a special relationship, and anti-smoking groups want to break it up.<BR>
The second biggest U.S. cigarette maker has for the past few years been giving winners of Miss America state pageants $5,000 annually to promote the company's youth anti-smoking campaign, a program public health officials say is a sham.<BR>
Now a coalition of health groups is asking the association that runs the state pageants to quit working with R.J. Reynolds, which is part of Reynolds American Inc. based in Winston-Salem, N.C.<BR>
"R.J. Reynolds is trying to use partnerships with reputable organizations like the Miss America State Pageants to create the illusion that it has changed and is part of the solution to the tobacco problem," Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, wrote in a letter this month to the National Association of Miss America State Pageants.<BR>
R.J. Reynolds currently is teamed with 29 state pageant organizations, according to Carolyn Brinkley, senior manager of RJR's public policy programs.<BR>
Brinkley said the company offers the women, who compete in the Miss America pageant, anti-smoking materials to use in middle schools.<BR>
She added that educators surveyed by the company have been pleased with the program. "We're being villainized for doing something that's the right thing to do," Brinkley said.<BR>
The effort serves both the school children, who get the anti-smoking message, and pageant winners, who get the money, said Lamar Mullican, president of the board of the state pageant association.<BR>
"It's been a godsend program for the pageant program," Mullican said. "We've had absolutely no complaints on it whatsoever."<BR>
A coalition of public health groups issued a statement Wednesday expressing opposition to the relationship.<BR>
"None of the tobacco prevention programs designed by tobacco companies have been effective at preventing youth smoking," Cynthia Hallett, executive director of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, said in the statement.<BR>
R.J. Reynolds' youth anti-smoking program is called "Right Decisions, Right Now." Its materials include posters, such as one featuring cartoon images of kids breaking a cigarette into pieces. The caption reads, "Share a great idea with your friends."<BR>
Another brochure shows teenagers in an ice cream shop and is titled "Tobacco: Helping your child say no." It is meant for parents who want to address the issue.<BR>
Cheryl Healton, who heads the American Legacy Foundation, which runs its own youth anti-smoking ads, said teenagers considering smoking are not likely to be swayed by parents reading from a brochure or from a Miss America contestant who visits their classroom.<BR>
"They adopt and stick with the behavior as an act of rebellion," Healton said.<BR>
Youth anti-smoking campaigns that work urge teens to "rebel against an industry that wants them to do something that is bad to their health and frankly to that of others," Healton said.<BR>
Former Miss America Heather French Henry, of Kentucky, said in an interview Wednesday she disagreed with Healton's view regarding the ability of pageant winners to impact youth smoking decisions.<BR>
"When you take the crown even into a middle school or a high school, these kids shut up and listen," she said.<BR>
Henry delivered an anti-smoking message to Kentucky teens for the state government prior to becoming Miss America 2000. She said she had not seen R.J. Reynolds' materials but didn't have a problem with the pairing of the cigarette company and the women.<BR>
"If it doesn't have their name on it, and the girls aren't talking about R.J. Reynolds being the sponsor, then I would think it's making a positive impact on the students," she said.<BR>